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at what age must a child leave an orphanage in the USA?

And, what help are they given?

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Age 18, unless they are still in high school. They are not given any help unless they find the great organizations out there that help these children transition from that type of live to a functional adult life. These organizations are usually local. And if the foster child or orphan is really lucky, the foster parents actually care and help the child prepare for the inevitable release from the system.

    In the USA orphanages are still around, just not the same as they used to be. While they are stilled ridden with insufficient supplies of food and space, they are used as a temporary place to be in between foster care homes or if the child is unable to stay in a family's home. They are referred to as children's homes rather than orphanages. I know this because my husband went to visit the one he lived in as a child to donate money and it is still operating. (He is 24, adopted from foster care at age 14.) Also, while I visited him at his adoptive mothers house people from our local children's home brought a child from the home into his adoptive mother's care. Instead of these homes being privately owned, the home belongs to the state foster care system.

  • 1 decade ago

    We don't have orphanages anymore. When a child is orphaned and has no where else to go (ie no other family or a previously designated family), s/he is placed in foster care. In a nutshell, foster families take in children that for whatever reason don't have a home, or dont have a safe home. The foster families raise the children and take on the role of parent/guardian. Sometimes foster kids get adopted and sometimes they remain in foster care until they're 18. Children in foster care can, and often do, change foster homes multiple times during their lives.

  • 1 decade ago

    They have to leave when they turn 18 and for what I have read, they don't get a lot of help or even guidance, which is a very sad thing. Yes at 18 they are supposed to be young adults ready to take the world by a storm, but unfortunately lots of these children end up on the street. So sad that in our country that happens, you would expect that from a third world country and not the US.

  • Anonymous
    4 years ago

    Sorry i don't understand something approximately Canada yet in the States, you may start up babysitting at 12 yrs old. So if a 12 365 days old can toddler take a seat toddlers youthful than them i could say it relies upon on their adulthood point yet i think of 10 is truthfully rounded quantity. of direction, the youngster could choose for countless somebody they could call who's close and can help them in the event that they choose for something. If that is for all time however, i don't think of that's an somewhat sturdy theory.

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  • 1 decade ago

    At the age of 18 they "age out of" the foster care system.

    Source(s): I work in the legal profession.
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